While traveling recently, I stopped to have dinner at a Chinese buffet that claimed to have more than 100 items on the menu. I figured that with so many choices, I’d definitely find something delicious to eat. But as I looked over the buffet, I discovered that most of the dishes were either swimming in gravy or oil, or were deep-fried. Since that’s not the type of meal I was looking for, I soon realized that my options weren’t as plentiful as I’d expected.

A vision is a picture or idea you have in your mind of yourself, your business, or anything this is going to happen. A clear vision helps you pursue dreams and achieve goals; an idea of the future, a strong wish. A vision that is clear will open your mind to the endless possibilities of the future.

A vision will help you to overcome obstacles in the way and helps you hold on when times are tough. A vision that is well defined helps you to focus and create a purpose that becomes your measurement for your success. If you do not have a vision of who you want to be, how you want to succeed or what you want out of life, you begin to lack drive and your life becomes just an order of events.

A few years ago, I heard a wonderful story, which I’m very fond of telling. An elementary school teacher was giving a drawing class to a group of six-year-old children. At the back of the classroom sat a little girl who normally didn’t pay much attention in school. In the drawing class she did.

For more than twenty minutes, the girl sat with her arms curled around her paper, totally absorbed in what she was doing. The teacher found this fascinating. Eventually, she asked the girl what she was drawing. Without looking up, the girl said, “I’m drawing a picture of God.” Surprised, the teacher said, “But nobody knows what God looks like.”

Everyone has difficult times in their life, when obstacles seem to constantly get in the way and nothing goes to plan. It’s during these tough times that many of us fall victim to blaming everything and everyone around us for the challenges we’re facing and our lack of success in creating the life we desire.

Maybe you’re in debt, stuck in a dead end job or your boss is constantly shouting at you and making you feel angry? Or perhaps your partner leaves you feeling frustrated and doesn’t give you the respect you deserve? It’s easy to blame what’s going on around us for our lack of happiness, bad mood and general discontent about the way life is going. But who is truly responsible for creating the life you desire? Whose life is it anyway? Have you taken responsibility for your life and what happens to you?